


Home Is Where My Horse Is

by WhatsYourNameMan



Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [11]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Julie is a good sister, None of the Phantoms are cis and I think that’s beautiful, Reggie’s backstory, Sort Of, Trans Alex Mercer, Trans Character, Trans Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Trans Reggie Peters, sort of sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28296228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatsYourNameMan/pseuds/WhatsYourNameMan
Summary: Julie overhears Reggie playing Home Is Where My Horse Is when he thinks he’s alone, and she uses this to learn more about his past.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters
Series: It’s not Sunset Cis either [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022667
Comments: 14
Kudos: 203





	Home Is Where My Horse Is

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning for one very very brief and vague mention of transphobia. 
> 
> This was requested by satsifictiion on tumblr: “would you write something about Reggie and his fascination with horses/country music? I've always wondered how other people thought it came about :)”
> 
> The lyrics are from Jeremy Shada’s version of Home Is Where My Horse Is. Also Maggie is named after the dog from The Grizzlies which is a Booboo Stewart movie. Completely irrelevant, but I thought I’d share.

“ _Home, what is it really?  
Sometimes it’s someone and not a place.  
It’s that feelin’ of being safe  
It’s about who you’re with at the end of the day._”

Reggie’s voice floats up to Julie in the loft, making her pause in her search for one of her mom’s old shirts. Reggie must not know she’s up here, as he’s always self-conscious about performing his country songs, especially when Luke’s around. And if Julie’s around, then usually so is Luke. 

“ _Home is where my horse is  
Ridin’ through the trees by the river  
Feel that summer breeze  
Smile gettin’ bigger.  
Home is where my horse is  
Don’t need a house or a roof  
I just lace up my saddle  
Lace up my boots  
‘Cause home is where my horse is._”

Julie slowly moves towards the edge of the loft, careful not to make too much noise. She peaks her head over the railing and looks down to where Reggie is perched on a stool with his banjo, eyes closed and a little smile on his face.

“ _I don’t need those streets  
And I don’t need those city lights  
I don’t need no fancy car  
I just hop on my horse and ride._”

Julie’s notices a little bit of a country twang in Reggie’s voice when he sings, and she stifles a giggle. A voice in the back of her mind tells her she should talk to Luke about giving Reggie more solos; his voice is beautiful. 

“ _Home is where my horse is  
Ridin’ through the trees by the river  
Feel that summer breeze  
Smile gettin’ bigger.  
Home is where my horse is  
I see that beautiful beast  
Ridin’ up to me  
And I know  
That I’m home._”

Reggie finishes his song with a soft strum. He finally opens his eyes, wiping some tears from them as he does so. Julie suddenly realizes exactly how much she’s intruding. She feels she has to alert him to her presence, so she says, “Luke is crazy for not letting us put that in our set.”

Reggie jumps and whips around to look towards the loft. “Have you been there this whole time?” 

Julie nods. “Sorry. I was looking for my mom’s shirt and I didn’t hear you come in.” 

Reggie gently lays his banjo in its case, his face burning red. “I probably should have checked to see if anyone was here.”

“You sounded amazing,” Julie says. “I‘ve never heard the full song before, but I really like it.” 

“Thanks, Jules.” Reggie swipes at his eye again with the sleeve of his flannel, and Julie asks, “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” Reggie nods. He disappears, and a second later, he’s sitting next to her on one of the old bean bags in the loft. “Did you find your shirt?” 

Julie tries to send him a look that says, _You’re not getting out of this that easily,_ but he’s conveniently avoiding eye contact with her. “No, I didn’t. It’s the one with the Rose and the Petal Pushers logo.” 

“I think that might’ve gotten mixed in with our stuff,” Reggie says. He grabs one of the trash bags where the boys keep their clothes. Julie makes a mental note to talk to her dad about getting them a dresser. “It’s the pink one, right?” Julie nods, and Reggie produces the shirt from the bag with a flourish. “Alex wore it on his date the other day.” 

He tosses the shirt to Julie and she presses her nose to the fabric. “Yup,” she says, “smells like Willie.” 

Reggie laughs. “I can tell Alex to stop stealing your clothes if you want.” 

“It’s fine,” Julie says, “you guys can take whatever as long as you put it back where it belongs, not in your gross trash bags.” 

“Rude,” Reggie scoffs. “It’s not our fault we’re homeless and dead.” 

“Well, the dead thing’s a little bit your fault.”

“A little bit,” Reggie admits. 

There’s a moment of comfortable silence between them. Julie folds her mom’s shirt while Reggie studies his chipped nail polish.

“Hey Reg?” Julie asks eventually. “Can I ask why you love horses so much? I mean, we live in LA. I don’t think l’ve ever even seen a horse in real life.” 

Reggie hesitates, and Julie notices that he starts running his thumb over his guitar callouses, one of his more subtle nervous tics. 

“Sorry, was that too personal?” Julie asks. “I was just curious. You don’t have to answer.” 

“No, it’s okay,” Reggie says. “I just don’t talk about it much. I actually grew up in Montana, until I was ten.”

“Wait, really?” Julie asks. The boys had become so important in her life so quickly that she sometimes forgets they lived a whole seventeen years that she knows very little about. She hadn’t even known Luke was from Canada until he started speaking fluent French out of nowhere about three weeks ago. 

Reggie nods. “Yeah. Me and my parents lived on my grandparents’ farm, and so did a couple of my cousins.” 

“So you’re, like, a real cowboy,” Julie grins, nudging him with her shoulder. 

“That’s what I like to think,” Reggie laughs. “I really loved it there. My grandpa—my mom’s dad—he was the coolest person ever. I wanted to be just like him. I was like his shadow, whenever he was out working in the field. I didn’t know I was a guy, then, but he didn’t care. He didn’t treat me differently than any of my cousins and he let me do all the same chores as them. Well, as much as an eight year old could do.”

“He sounds amazing,” Julie says, reaching for Reggie’s hand and giving it a squeeze. 

“He was,” Reggie says. 

“Did you have a horse?” 

Reggie nods, a smile spreading across his face. He reaches over and grabs a box from one of the shelves. He rustles through a bunch of old photographs until he finds what he’s looking for and hands it to Julie. It’s a photo of seven-year-old Reggie in a flannel and overalls, a French braid in his hair and a gap where his two front teeth should be. He looks so different, but Julie would recognize that smile anywhere. He’s sitting atop a gorgeous chestnut-colored horse and hugging its neck. The horse has a distinct white patch of hair on its nose. 

“Her name was Maggie. She was born the same week as me so Grandpa decided she would be mine.” He hesitates, before admitting, “I was never really great at making friends, so until we moved and I met the guys, Maggie was my best friend.” 

“Why did you move?” 

Reggie shrugs. “My dad got a new job in LA. I really hated in here, at first. It’s when my parents’ fighting started getting bad, but I still got to spend summers in Montana, so I put up with it. But then Dad lost his job, and we couldn’t afford to travel anymore, and the fighting got worse than ever, especially after I came out, and...” Reggie cuts himself off, taking a deep breath. “This place, and the guys, became home eventually, and it definitely is now, but for most of my life, when I thought of home, I thought of the farm, and Grandpa and Maggie.”

“Have you ever thought about looking for him?” Julie asks. “I could help you.” 

Reggie gives her a sad smile. “He was seventy-five when I died, Jules. I doubt he’s still around. And even if he was, I don’t think I’d want to know. I can’t go through losing him again. It’s best to keep him in my memories.” 

Julie nods. “Thank you for telling me about this,” she says, scooting a little closer so she can lean into his side. “I like learning about you guys. And if you ever want to add some piano to ‘Home is Where My Horse Is,’ I’ve got you.” 

“You’ll be the first person I call,” Reggie grins. 

Julie looks down at the picture in her hands, at the love in little Reggie’s eyes as he looks at Maggie. Suddenly, she gets an idea. “Can I borrow this for a few hours? I’ll put it back exactly where it was.”

“Um, I guess?” Reggie says. “Why, though?” 

“It’s a surprise,” Julie says, springing to her feet. “You’ll see.” She ruffles his hair then starts climbing down from the loft. 

“Just be careful with it!” Reggie calls after her, still very confused. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

He keeps that confusion for another week, and every time he asks Julie why she needed the photo she just giggles and tells him to be patient. She must have told Luke and Alex about her plan at some point, because after a couple days, Luke and Alex share a grin every time Reggie asks. It’s driving him crazy, being left out of the loop, but he just reminds himself that he has to trust Julie. 

Finally, after rehearsal on Saturday, Julie grabs Reggie’s hand and drags him to the armchair, pushing him down into it. 

“What’s going on?” Reggie asks, as Luke and Alex take the couch, leaning forward in anticipation. 

“Are you ready for your surprise?” Julie asks. She skips over to her backpack and pulls out a box wrapped in plaid wrapping paper. 

“What’s this?” Reggie asks. 

“Open it and see,” Julie grins, sliding the box into his lap.

He eyes his friends suspiciously and rips off the paper. The lid of the box has a logo that reads “Cuddle Clones.” Reggie furrows his brow, even more confused, and opens the box. 

He lets out a little gasp, his eyes filling with tears immediately. Alex and Luke offer a fist bump to Julie as Reggie pulls his gift out of the box. It’s a stuffed horse, chestnut brown with a spot of white on the nose, exactly in the shape his horse’s. 

“This—this is Maggie,” he says, looking between Julie and the horse in disbelief. 

“I found this website that uses pictures of your pet to make plushies,” Julie explains. “That’s why I needed the photo.” 

“I—“ Reggie doesn’t know what to say. Finally, he manages to choke out, “ _Julie._ ” He leaps up and throws his arms around her, hugging her just as tight as the night she saved him from a second death. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you.” 

“So you like it?” Julie giggles. 

“I _love_ it.” He pulls back and hugs the horse to his chest. “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” 

Alex lets out an offended whine, and Luke protests, “We saved for a whole year to get you that leather jacket.”

“Okay, _one_ of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten,” Reggie says with an eye roll, and Luke and Alex nod, satisfied. 

Julie puts a hand on Reggie’s shoulder. “Hopefully this will make this place feel a little more like home.” 

“It was already home,” Reggie says. “Anywhere with you guys is home.” He pauses and looks back down at the horse, his smile growing even wider. “Home _is_ where my horse is, though.” 

Luke groans, and Alex and Julie laugh. Reggie motions for them all to come in for a group hug. 

“I really love you guys,” he says, resting his head on Julie’s. “Thank you for being my home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated :)
> 
> I’m wr0temyway0ut on tumblr and my ask box is open if you wanna come chat about these ghosty boys or send prompts/requests.


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